The appearance of confectionery products is very important to the appeal of the product to the consumer and thus to the success of the product in the market place. Confectionery such as chocolate may be prone to ‘scuffing’ during procedures such as weighing or packaging employed during production. In these instances, unsightly white marks appear on the surface of the chocolate as a result, for example, of abrasion to the surface of the confectionery item that may occur during the production or packaging process, or when they are in contact with each other. These marks are particularly apparent on brown chocolate which may be dark, milk or plain chocolate
Processes in which chocolate is subjected to rapid cooling and then subsequently rewarmed to improve thermal robustness or prevent the formation of bloom are known for example from U.S. Pat. No. 6,419,970 and EP-A-0390408. However the applicants have found that a heat treatment alone can be used to remove scruff marks which have formed on the chocolate.